Casper the Holy Ghost
Penitents in Granada, earlier this month.
I often think the hooded penitentes look quite imposing, scary even, as they parade the streets during Semana Santa. However, this group, taking a rest during the procession of the Hermandad de la Aurora, look more Casper the Friendly Ghost than Ku Klux Klan – especially the guy on the left, entranced with his candle.
This pic made the wall for the last Wall Project task: “People”. Next up, candidates for the latest theme: “Spring”.
Happy Easter! (good excuse for gratuitous cuteness…)
Mely and I are in Granada for Easter. In the streets, of course, the passion and drama of Semana Santa is in full swing. But as far as I’m concerned, the star of the show is Little Marcos, who is, in all probability, the Cutest Nephew In The World.
Happy Spring!
Three Views of the Alhambra
We visited the Alhambra on a stormy Tuesday morning just before Christmas. Our assignment for our wall picture was to come up with something different from the thousands of postcards that can be found in the city’s souvenir shops. Taking an original picture of such a photographed architectural icon was quite a challenge, although the rain helped us avoid copying the postcards. Actually my favourite is the view of the palace accompanied by the smiling bollard (see The Painted Streets of Granada), but I was outvoted and the ceiling arches (top) made the wall.
Granada Jazz
While in Granada we happened upon the Sunday jazz jam session at Boogaloo dance club. We thought it would be a ‘quiet’ way to spend a Sunday evening, but the motley assortment of jazzsters playing at the Boogaloo had other ideas, and an increasingly exuberant multitude of musicians jammed away well past 3Am. Such fun that I was inspired to make Seeing More Jazz my new year’s resolution for 2010. Still haven’t had the opportunity to go to a concert yet this year, but this Sunday evening I’m listening to Charles Mingus get into the swing of things at grooveshark.com, which is fine for now…
The Painted Streets of Granada
Mely, Mario and I spent Christmas with Mely’s family in Granada. We spent our afternoons walking off hearty lunches, wandering until our feet were in need of a rest and our bellies in need of a tapilla or two. The city is famous for its monuments, such as the Alhambra (top), but the crumbling walls of the not-yet gentrified, half-abandoned quarters of its historic neighbourhoods are a blank canvas for graffiti artists such as El Niño de las Pinturas (centre). Granada’s painted streets are the visual expression of this conservative city’s bohemian, irreverent underbelly.
Surprise!
Greetings all! I’m writing this not long back from a short trip to sunny Andalucia. Was not there to work on some profound, hard-hitting photo essay, but rather to dedicate a few days to eating, sleeping and generally recovering from the intensity of the first term at LCC. Well I thought it was intense anyway… I guess 1 day of lectures plus half a day of tutorials/coffee doesn’t sound like much work, but on top of that I did spend an awful lot of time thinking, quite a bit of shooting, a fair few hours studying and FAR too much time mired in insecure self-doubt. Oh, and most of the time enjoying it immensely…
I guess the purpose of these blogs is for us to discuss and display our Easter projects, but to celebrate my official First Post on this blog I’ve decided to put up one of my holiday snapps… I went to Spain with my girlfriend Mely to celebrate her mum’s birthday (Mely’s mother lives in Granada). Didn’t tell her that we were coming though, and the picture shows the moment Mely’s mum opened her door to discover her surprise ‘birthday present’ from London waiting on the doorstep. I was waiting too, camera at the ready. Ready but not steady, as you can see from the camera shake… I think I was jumping up and down and shouting ‘Feliz Cumpleaños’ at the time, but I reckon the blurriness is quite appropriate somehow.
